The Heathen Home

The new calendar year has begun, the hope of spring is breaking through the frozen places of winters heart and daydreams fill the mind with hope for new, change, growth. The earth is already changing, days grow longer minute by minute and the storms are covering the ground with the nourishment it will need to bring forth new crops.

The human being follows these sames cycles, times of immense growth, times of dying, shedding and darkness followed by seasons of renewal and restoration. That is the most comforting part of life cycles. In the times of decay and shedding there is the hope of the new growth that is around the corner.

The greatest challenges come in the transformation. Looking at ourselves we don't seem to be in too bad shape. We have a few nicks here and there, a few scrapes and our polish is not as lustrous as it once was but hey we have been through some stuff! Being "not so bad for what we have been through" only works for a time. It seems that the universe always has ways of pushing us, causing us to shed the old, get those nicks fixed, address the weakening foundation, remake ourselves and embark on a new adventure.

The transformation from "not so bad" to renewed is messy. We are stripped, scraped, sanded, our foundations come apart and are re-fit for new strength and we are laid bare. We look at ourselves as we brush our teeth and we don't even recognise the face we see. During this process ugly emotions rear their heads. Challenges come so that old grudges, anger and bitterness are released...or they will stop the transformation. Finally in a raw state, the new begins to emerge, stronger, better edges and lines, new color and a beautiful finish. Ready for all the challenges of the season of life that lays just beneath the surface.

Anyone who has worked diligently to change their physique has experienced this. You work hard, you sweat, you smell, you struggle to make sore muscles obey your commands and you do it again and again until your body begins to reform.

I do this everytime I transform cast off pieces I find in junk stores or old furniture found at auction. What appears "not so bad for what it has endured" has to be stripped and remade so that it can endure it's next purpose. It starts out not so bad, gets messy, gets ugly and then turns the corner where the new beauty emerges.

It happens in small unnoticeable ways everyday, it happens in years and decades and continues through our life. You can't stop it, you can't run or hide....you can only get better at the process and embrace it because there is new beauty coming.